Millionaires before there pro debut?

[Adamj1987]

Im guessing the guys warren signed from last 2 olympics where and harrison - anyone else?

[Tommy Gunn13]

Im guessing the guys warren signed from last 2 olympics where and harrison - anyone else?

No doubt they got plenty off cash for signing on bonuses,but id doubt it was anywhere near 1M....

[Hagler2002]

Im guessing the guys warren signed from last 2 olympics where and harrison - anyone else?

I'd be amazed if they were anywhere near the 1 mill mark.

[housesecond]

Im guessing the guys warren signed from last 2 olympics where and harrison - anyone else?

Highly unlikely.

[Adamj1987]

i thought both degalke and harrison signed 1mill contracts for a set number of fighte but wouldnt get any more till the fights were up and it was renewal time

[black panther]

Certainly not a millionaire before his debut but Ray Leonard was a millionaire before he fought for his first world title I believe Considering what a million dollars in 1979 would be worth in todays money, that's a remarkable achievement.

[TerribleTerry]

Ricardo Williams must surely be the biggest bust to receive a $1m plus sign on fee?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/sport ... .html?_r=1

Too much money too soon can rob a fighter of his ambition.

There were times when Ricardo Williams Sr. would call and ask if his son had completed his roadwork that day, and the reply would be, “Yeah, I’m just drying off.” He would say that from the comfort of his bed, just emerging from sleep.

“You ever try to tell a 19-year-old millionaire what to do?” Ricardo Sr. said.

It is the silk pyjamas scenario.

[mickey1975]

De La Hoya,definitely.As for todays Olympians,they may have contracts that amount to that in the long run,but its all conditional on winning the fights.The cash they will have received so far will be nothing like that.Khan may have come close with his contract with Reebok included.

[Wake up call]

I heard DeGale got somewhere in the region of £750,000 for signing with Warren but imagine it's spread over a set amount of time and has a lot of conditions on it.

[housesecond]

There can't be many. Leonard, De La Hoya, Micheal Spinks. A lot of the American Gold medalists basically.

[Rocky Balboa]

Tyson was a millionaire before he fought Berbick!

[TerribleTerry]

David Reid commanded a $1.5m signing bonus as America's only Gold Medalist of the 1996 Olympics:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/boxi ... 37301.html

[Old bones Ian]

Micky Rourke

[taffytoon]

Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)

Sly Stallone (Some bloke called Rocky)

[n1ebf]

Certainly not a millionaire before his debut but Ray Leonard was a millionaire before he fought for his first world title I believe Considering what a million dollars in 1979 would be worth in todays money, that's a remarkable achievement.

Ray Leonard was doing very nicely as an amateur I believe he turned pro when he did because his father was ill and he needed money to help him. Eye operation or something I think.
He certainly wasn't rich. At all.

[n1ebf]

I heard DeGale got somewhere in the region of £750,000 for signing with Warren but imagine it's spread over a set amount of time and has a lot of conditions on it.

that's a shit load of cash, where do you get that figure from.
Anybody that pisses that kind of money on somebody with NO pro fights is plain dumb. Then again Wazza knows how to make a bob or two, say no more.

[oliverfennell]

Micky Rourke

Good call!

[funso banjo baby]

harrison's was a ten fight deal which effectively meant 100k for fighting Mike middleton ????

no ones mentioned Amir Khan surely his deal was huge ?

[mickey1975]

harrison's was a ten fight deal which effectively meant 100k for fighting Mike middleton ????

no ones mentioned Amir Khan surely his deal was huge ?

I mentioned Khan above

[black panther]

Certainly not a millionaire before his debut but Ray Leonard was a millionaire before he fought for his first world title I believe Considering what a million dollars in 1979 would be worth in todays money, that's a remarkable achievement.

Ray Leonard was doing very nicely as an amateur I believe he turned pro when he did because his father was ill and he needed money to help him. Eye operation or something I think.
He certainly wasn't rich. At all.

Yes you're right in fact he didn't even want to turn pro - after winning his gold medal he said "The journey ends here." But as you said he needed the money to support his family and didn't get the endorsements he had hoped for after winning gold so he decided to turn pro. And I'm very grateful he did!

[Boxingmad]

Leonard certainly did manage to become a millionaire before he fought for his first world title, due to endorsements, appearances etc. Don't forget that in those days boxing was on TV for free so the whole of the USA saw Leonard's rise to the top and he was well paid for it.

[Stocks]

Im guessing the guys warren signed from last 2 olympics where and harrison - anyone else?

It's a funny one because people always forget you get taxed 50% on this now. I remember David Haye getting £1m by the BBC for his first 10 fights but he was saying 40% goes on tax then you’ve got NI, sparring partners, training camps and general living expenses as this is your main income.

I suppose on top of that you have other revenue streams such as sponsorship which helps.

To have a million in the bank you'd need to make over £2mil at least.

[Dirk Kelly]

Think Scott Welsh was a millionaire before he started boxing.